This is the eighth volume of THE BLACK WORKER: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY FROM COLONIAL TIMES TO THE PRESENT, the first compilation of original materials to encompass the entire history of Black American labor. As with the preceding volumes, documents are placed in historical context by introductions and notes. Original spellings have been retained except where they obscure the intended meaning.
Volume VIII begins with an overview of the economic status of the black worker during the era since the AFL-CIO merger. Extensive documentation is presented on the battle waged within the house of labor to purge it of racial discrimination, and the corresponding relations which existed between the labor movement and Negro civil rights groups. The difficulty inherent in this purging process led some young black nationalists to espouse radical, separatist solutions to the race problem confronting black workers. Nevertheless, most Afro-Americans sought to strengthen the traditional alliance of blacks and the more progressive forces in the labor movement, and formed black caucuses in order to reform, rather than destroy, the established unions. The period from the merger to the present, therefore, is characterized by an increasing realization by organized labor that the civil rights of blacks, and social justice for all workers, make them natural allies. Current indications suggest that this realization will deepen with the rise of neo-conservatism in the 1980s.
The editors wish to express their appreciation to those who have assisted in the compilation of these documents. In particular, we thank the staffs of the following institutions: Lincoln University Library (Pa.); University of Delaware Library; U.S. Department of Labor Library; Columbia University Library; Schomburg Collection of the New York Public Library; A. Philip Randolph Institute, New York; The Tamiment Institute, New York; and Local 1199 Archives, New York. We are also grateful to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for permission to use items from THE CRISIS, and to the AFL-CIO for materials from convention PROCEEDINGS and the AFL-CIO NEWS. We also thank Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. for permission to reprint a speech he delivered before a convention of the United Steelworkers of America convention, and Moe Foner of Local 1199 for his assistance in acquiring the materials for Part V.
It is fortunate that Volume VIII is the last in the series for we have drained the well of apt phrases for thanking those who have assisted us in the preparation of these volumes. This book was typed by Gail Brittingham who has devoted so much beyond what one might gracefully expect from an assistant that we are humbled in offering our appreciation. The same must be said for Susan E. Lewis, who copy edited all of the volumes in this series, including this one. Only through their good natured assistance could this non-funded project ever have been completed. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the material assistance of the Black American Studies Program, and the College of Arts and Science at the University of Delaware.
Philip S. Foner
Philadelphia, PA
Ronald L. Lewis
Newark, DE
Robert Cvornyek
North Arlington, NJ